The Biofire machine, which was used at the Tokyo Olympics, can do a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test for 45 different infectious diseases like the flu, Covid, and the common cold. The test can be done and returned in 45 minutes, which lets athletes that are infected be tested and quarantined in less than an hour.
When the athletes are quarantined, they can be treated with antibiotics while their teammates are not exposed to them. If the athletes are healthy and free of viruses, they can participate. “Keeping people infection-free can be the difference between no medal and a gold medal,” said David Hughes, the chief medical officer of the Australian institute of sport.
During the 2016 Rio Olympics, 94 Aussie athletes got respiratory illnesses, and 35 athletes got gastro. In Tokyo, the rapid tests and strict rules about handwashing and mask-wearing helped Australia’s Olympic team be almost free of infections.
Tokyo also added cleverly placed outdoor barbecue places so that athletes would go outside and socialize, reducing the risk of viruses. Another strategy deployed by Tokyo was to send athletes back to Australia after they finished competing so that they wouldn’t party and then come back to the Olympic village infected.
The Aussies had the largest Tokyo team, with around 1000 athletes. Dr. Hughes said not one person missed a practice or failed to compete. The Australians went to Tokyo and back without a single Covid case.
Australia’s accessibility to the machines was just luck that gave them an advantage. They originally got the machines to study the effect of infectious diseases on athletes. When the pandemic began, the machines switched from being academic tools to vitally important assets of the Australian sports teams.
The machines cost 35 thousand dollars and can test up to eight people at a time. Each testing kit costs 150 dollars. “I’ve heard figures thrown around that a gold medal often takes about a million dollars of investment over four to eight years, so I think it was worth every cent,” said Dr. Hughes.
When the athletes are quarantined, they can be treated with antibiotics while their teammates are not exposed to them. If the athletes are healthy and free of viruses, they can participate. “Keeping people infection-free can be the difference between no medal and a gold medal,” said David Hughes, the chief medical officer of the Australian institute of sport.
During the 2016 Rio Olympics, 94 Aussie athletes got respiratory illnesses, and 35 athletes got gastro. In Tokyo, the rapid tests and strict rules about handwashing and mask-wearing helped Australia’s Olympic team be almost free of infections.
Tokyo also added cleverly placed outdoor barbecue places so that athletes would go outside and socialize, reducing the risk of viruses. Another strategy deployed by Tokyo was to send athletes back to Australia after they finished competing so that they wouldn’t party and then come back to the Olympic village infected.
The Aussies had the largest Tokyo team, with around 1000 athletes. Dr. Hughes said not one person missed a practice or failed to compete. The Australians went to Tokyo and back without a single Covid case.
Australia’s accessibility to the machines was just luck that gave them an advantage. They originally got the machines to study the effect of infectious diseases on athletes. When the pandemic began, the machines switched from being academic tools to vitally important assets of the Australian sports teams.
The machines cost 35 thousand dollars and can test up to eight people at a time. Each testing kit costs 150 dollars. “I’ve heard figures thrown around that a gold medal often takes about a million dollars of investment over four to eight years, so I think it was worth every cent,” said Dr. Hughes.
